EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR SUSTAINING INITIAL ASPIRATION Master Jun Hong Lu: To avoid falling into a state of slackness, it’s best to maintain your initial aspiration. This means reflecting on the reason that thrusted you into the dharma gate, and reminiscing about the blessings bestowed by Bodhisattva. The abundance of inspiration, peace, safety and happiness that […]
WILLINGNESS TO BE AT A DISADVANTAGE AND ENDURING HARDSHIPS ARE WAYS TO ELIMINATE KARMIC OBSTACLES Caller: Master Lu often advises us to learn to endure hardships and always be willing to take the shorter end of the stick. In this present life, if we suffer from humiliations and are on the losing end, does it […]
BODHISATTVAS FEAR CAUSES, WHILE SENTIENT BEINGS FEAR EFFECTS Master Jun Hong Lu: There was a quack doctor who misdiagnosed and caused someone’s son to die. To make up for his mistake, he gave his son away to be adopted by this family. After some time, he caused someone’s female servant to die. To compensate, the […]
LETTING GO IS ABOUT TRANSFORMING WORLDLY AFFECTION INTO THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF THE BUDDHA Question: How can we truly apply the truth of letting go in our daily life? How do we go about showing filial respect to our parents, and taking care of our children, and yet still able to let go of them in […]
PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM RETRIBUTION ARE PRONE TO CREATING NEW NEGATIVE KARMA Master Jun Hong Lu: Those with a negative mental attitude are prone to accumulating karmic obstacles. When they are hateful towards others and survive on a steady diet of negative thinking, karmic obstacles will soon find their way to them. In this […]
THE FOUNDATION FOR OFFERING EFFECTIVE PRAYERS TO BODHISATTVA IS COMPRISED OF THREE FACTORS Master Jun Hong Lu: Number 1: Karma from previous lives. Number 2: The level of your cultivation in the present life. No matter how admirable a person’s cultivation was in his or her past lives, if they only do bad things and […]
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR INITIAL ASPIRATION CLOSE TO YOUR HEART Question: Master, how do we resolve a mental state that oscillates between being tensed up and relaxed that we experience while performing recitation or mind cultivation? For example, under intense pressure, we can recite up to seven or eight Little Houses a day, but we may […]
AVOID COMMITTING NEGATIVE KARMA OF SPEECH IN DHARMA PROPAGATION THROUGH CONTEMPLATING ON CAUSES AND CONDITIONS Caller: Sometimes when performing totem reading for Buddhist friends, Master detected tell-tale signs that they have inadvertently committed negative karma of speech in their effort to propagate Buddhism. It’d be great if Master could give some examples of cases to […]
PRAYER FOR NON-DISCIPLES PRIOR TO RECITING THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR DISCIPLES Question: For Buddhist practitioners who are not disciples of Master Jun Hong Lu, is it alright for them to state the following prayer right before reciting the Code of Conduct for Disciples: “I, <your full name>, have yet to become a disciple of […]
RECITE AT LEAST ONE LITTLE HOUSE DAILY Caller: Master, during the 4 May totem reading program, you mentioned that ideally one Little House should be recited per day. If you only recite half of it, you are falling significantly short of the ideal. In previous radio programs, Master has also mentioned on a few occasions […]
DO NOT TAKE OTHERS’ MONEY WHEN PERFORMING MERITS Caller: Master once cautioned us about making illicit gains on our path of our Buddhist practice, which includes making appeals for financial assistance through our chat groups, is that right? Master Jun Hong Lu: Absolutely right. Illicit gains refer to being in possession of others’ money. For […]
MASTER LU CONDEMNS THE ACT OF RAISING FUNDS TO PERFORM MERITS Caller: Hi Master, say, a Buddhist practitioner pledges to purchase dharma recorders or print Buddhism in Plain Terms and etc, he sets up an account, through which others can remit the funds for payment to the printing company or a third party… Master Jun […]
DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN MONEY WHEN PERFORMING MERITORIOUS DEEDS AS A GROUP Caller: As we are organising a life liberation activity in a group tomorrow, can Master help identify any areas for improvement? What should the organisers pay attention to? Apart from money-related matters, under what other circumstances could possibly generate karmic obstacles? Master […]
DO NOT POST MESSAGES RELATED TO FUNDRAISING IN GROUP CHATS Question: There are some Buddhist friends who are not from the dharma-propagation group but are very eager to support the dharma-propagation drive. Unfortunately, in the absence of a local practice centre, the dharma-propagation group is unable to accept any donations whatsoever, even though such funds […]
IS BEING ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT CHARITABLE CAUSES A WAY TO ACCUMULATE PROVISIONS NEEDED ON THE PATH OF SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION? Question: Hi Master, Buddhism in Plain Terms says, “There are endless streams of good deeds that one can undertake, and having a benevolent heart is equivalent to performing all the good deeds there is”. On that note, […]
ONLY GRATITUDE AND COMPASSION CAN ELIMINATE ALL KARMIC OBSTACLES Question: Master Lu has mentioned in Buddhism in Plain Terms that every passion and desire within the Seven Emotions and Six Sensory Pleasures has the effect of creating karmic obstacles and it is only through gratitude one is able to exterminate them. Why is gratitude the […]
MENTALITY IN BESEECHING BODHISATTVA Caller: A Buddhist friend is praying for a particular matter, but he is worried that his hefty karmic obstacles or weak willpower may hinder his prayer from being answered, despite his confidence in Guan Yin Bodhisattva responding to all prayers. Master, how do we overcome such a mentality? Master Jun Hong […]
THE ORIGINAL ASPIRATION IS ABOUT BEING GRATEFUL TOWARDS SENTIENT BEINGS FOR THEIR PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES Master Jun Hong Lu: We must always cultivate a sense of gratitude, which will help us maintain a calm and peaceful mind. As Buddhist practitioners, we should never forget our original aspiration, which is to be grateful towards sentient […]
THOSE WHO PERFORM RECITATION SHOULD BE CAREFUL IN THEIR SPEECH TO PREVENT ‘OUTFLOWS’ Caller: I have been practising Guan Yin Citta for over a year now after being introduced to it by my daughter. Master, can you point out my faults? Master Jun Hong Lu: You don’t know about your own faults? You should refrain […]
WE BECOME WHO WE SURROUND OURSELVES WITH Master Jun Hong Lu: Interpersonal relationships are getting increasingly complicated nowadays. Why? Married couples suffer from marital dissension, while children are estranged from their parents. What’s the reason behind all these phenomena? The problem lies in one’s thoughts. Each of us has both the Buddha nature and the […]
BE AWARE OF THE KARMA YOU ARE CREATING Master Jun Hong Lu: One night a man had a dream. In the dream the God of the Earth said to him, “I need you to help me build a wall with that family next door. This is because the man in that family was very virtuous […]
SEE CLEARLY THE SIX REALMS OF EXISTENCE Master Jun Hong Lu: Let me tell you this. If you are merely living your life doing the things you are supposed to as a human and stay away from evil deeds, the best outcome will be for you to be reborn as a human in the next […]
PRAYER IS NOT ANSWERED BECAUSE THE KARMIC CONDITIONS HAVE NOT MATURED Master Jun Hong Lu: We must educate our Buddhist friends that when karmic conditions ripen, the fruit of karma will certainly take effect. When the karmic conditions of your prayer to the Buddha ripen today, your karmic result will come into being. If the […]
INITIAL ASPIRATION IS THE STATE OF PERFECT AND SUPREME ENLIGHTENMENT Master Jun Hong Lu: According to Buddhist scripture, a perfect and supreme enlightenment is attained when your initial aspiration is conceived. Think about it, your initial aspiration is your innate nature. The moment you embark on your spiritual cultivation journey, the luminous mind of the […]
WHAT LEADS US TO DO BAD DEEDS? Caller: Master, you’ve mentioned before that when a person did something inappropriate or against the moral principles, say, at a certain time in his previous life, his inner demon will surface and reside in his consciousness. This explains why the person will keep thinking about the said matter. […]
THE CONTINUATION OF ANCESTRAL KARMA Master Jun Hong Lu: Ancestors’ lack of morality, good fortune and virtue contributes to a large scope of karma, which may be affected by factors including the ancestral grave, feng shui and the positive and negative karma of their past lives. If the karma created by the ancestors is not […]
THE BUDDHA WILL LEAD US FORWARD, WITH OUR HANDS IN HIS Master Jun Hong Lu: The Lord Buddha will lead us forward, with our hands in His, He will never let go of His grip just because our hands are filthy. Neither will He turn His back on us just because our imperfections are aplenty. […]
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRACTICE OF ALMS ROUND Caller: In the past, the practice of begging for alms by monks was also known as ‘the conditions or opportunities for transformation’. A fellow cultivator would like to know whether the ‘opportunities for transformation’ in this context means to sprinkle the seeds of dharma onto sentient beings […]
THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT IS IMMUTABLE, WISDOM CANNOT BE BESTOWED, THE TRUE DHARMA IS INEXPLICABLE, AND SPIRITUALLY AWAKENING WILL NEVER COME TO THOSE WHO LACK AFFINITY WITH BUDDHISM Master Jun Hong Lu: A disciple of the Buddha asked the Lord Buddha, “You have such immense divine-supernatural powers, boundless compassion and wisdom, but why […]
LET GO OF FAME AND FORTUNE OF THE MATERIAL WORLD, RENOUNCE THE WORLD AT HEART BY PURIFYING THE MIND OF IMPURITIES, AND EMULATE THE BUDDHA’S UNIVERSAL LOVE FOR SENTIENT BEINGS Master Jun Hong Lu: Today is the Buddha’s Renunciation Day. Renunciate means avoid being contaminated by the worldly filth, to gain wisdom and attain liberation […]